Time for a little more knowledge today 🙂 After i posted pictures from my T/C rod bushings in various forum-threads, people replied that i should swap to rubber in the back. After discussing a few topics i figoured out that original rubber bushings are still available new from Nissan and ordered a set, which i was able to pick up today:

The problem: According to many people, the T/C rod tends to brake at the yellow area, when PU-bushings are used both in front and rear of the Frame-rail mount. This due to much counterstrength whith the hard PU-bushings.

For sciences’ sake i decided to compare both setups with an original NOS 240Z frame rail i have in my shop.
Top: Front PU / rear Rubber
Bottom: Front PU / rear PU

1st: Both PU. Fits perfect, but it’s very stiff, both compression and angle-movement wise.

Second: Front PU / rear rubber.
You still have the advantage of PU-front (less rearwards movement during compression, red arrow), while having more freedom of angle-movement (yellow arrow) and therefore minimized the chance that the T/C rod will brake.

So thanks all for the inputs and advice and i’ll definitely stick with the PU / Rubber combination for best performance and with least failure rate 🙂

While waiting for the parts shipment from Japan i got some reading from Japan in my mailbox today. Two Nostalgic Hero Mooks (Magazine Books), which contain some readworthy information and nice pictures from some of the more special Z’s:

Aside from some general background information about the Fairlady Z:

There are some special versions like the ZG Police car that were intended for high-speed highway Chasings back in the day

or the Legendary S20 Engined Z432 (and-R)

Also some information about privately owned Works rallye cars:

Including the one from Altonen / Todt

It also includes scans of the original LY-head parts list and 280LY tuning Manual and some general JDM classic car related stuff.

A while ago i discovered some NOS parts on a german Sales ad website and contact the seller. few days later i got some NOS parts in my mailbox 🙂
A 5-speed transmission clutch fork incl the retainer spring:

More parts are on the way from japan currenty. and while waiting, i decided to strip the various layers of old paint from the Euro-chin spoiler with the simple use of some pressurized air and a spatula. before…

at least five layers of different primers and paint:

and here’s the result. yeah, still two layers to go, but this one is tuff. even the paint stripper didn’t work on this. wonder what it is.. probably have to sand it down by hand.. no hurry though, at least i don’t have old paint peeling off from it and messing the storage space now anymore…

Oh, and almost forgot i had all the parts for the doglegs ready since a while but never assembled them…

So did that today, freshly powdercoated doglegs, zinc plated hardware and new Polyurethane bushings. next to a pair of old unrestored doglegs 🙂

This is another little project that has been under work for a while and is finally completed 🙂
A while ago i wanted to re-assemble the transmission crossmember with the new Energy suspension polyurethane bushings. They’re stated to fit all 240Z years on their website:

However, when i tried to install it, it didn’t fit at all… The metal tube was too long to fit inside the outer mounting bracket and had a wrong diameter, the bushings had a completely wrong shape too and didn’t fit anywhere….

It was only then i figoured out there are at least three different types of transmission crossmembers and they do not fit the type i got i got:

I tried to find a supplier, but they weren’t available. But when i asked Jakub Nurzaj from DPAN Europe he immediately told me that he could make a set for me… So i took some measures and we double checked a few things, before the first series went into production.

Yesterday i was finally able to pick them up at the postal office and the first look was promising.

Here’s a comparison between energy bushings (left) and Jakub’s bushings (right) the difference is small but i can assure you the ones to the left don’t fit at all…

So today i was finally able to install them (use some bushing grease!)

Fitment is spot on and tight. perfect!
I cannot thank Jakub enough for the work he put into this and i’m happy i could support him. The bushings are now available from Jakub Nurzaj from the DPAN Europe facebook page. Contact him if you need these.

Here’s how the crossmember looked before restauration:

And here’s the completed, freshly powdercoated transmission crossmember with freshly zinc plated bolts and the NISMO / Kameari Transmission mount. Looking cood. Another Puzzle-piece complete. Thanks again to Jakub for the awesome work!

Sometimes you find the coolest things when you don’t even search for them. I always thought the “euro” front lip / chin spoiler was cool but it’s somehow rare these days to find one and i thought i go the route with the xenon front bumper. However when i was searching for some other parts i accidently stumbled upon a pretty rough looking but still salvageable OEM front spoiler lip. I contacted a few people to confirm it’s the real deal and then made the payment. few days later and i could pick it up at the postal office today:

One of the mounting brackets is missing (broken off) and another one seems to have been replaced with a custom made piece over the years. but otherwise it’s in quite good shape, as long as the old paint gets removed.

It’s made from Urethane rubber so pretty soft and you can bend it like you want 🙂

After i realized i cannot afford to modify three cars at the same time, i decided to keep my daily driver as it is and not throw all my money at it. I better concetrate on my other projects. However i needed new Summer wheels. currently only running one set of barrels means i have to swap the tires twice a year (and pay for it too), since summer and winter tires are required in our climate area.

After a while of searching i found a set of OEM wheels (exactly the same as i have on my car already) in germany for a reasonable price, including Toyo rubbers which will last for another two seeasons or so.
And including the original lug nuts as well. In perfect condition. Quite the deal if you ask me 🙂 Happy now with two sets of wheels. No money spent on useless style parts for a daily driven Station wagon and Factory parts for a bargain. Picked them up today and the seller was a great guy too with a similar Mazda 6 and a bit of passion for it. Perfect 🙂

I got a request for a 240Z Rear window for sale, so i thought it might be a good reason to get my small power supply and Multimeter out and check them.

Unfortunately i didn’t even need my tools. It was already clear by visually checking them that both window defrosters are toast, even if the glass was OK on both. The resistive threads have oxidated and vanished in large areas:

It even seems like one of them had some kind of burn at one point:

You can’t really see it bot some of the threads are almost gone totally and there’s only some leftovers from the original glue. Really wonder how that could happen. but it seems to be a common problem.

One of them even had one of the bigger threads loose. I know it’s all repairable with stock-on thread wires, but not sure yet how nice i can do it and if it’s worth the effort. Either i need a new glass or have it repaired by a pro.

Strange enough i figoured out i have both a vertical and a horizontal wired hatch glass. even if both my cars were built in late 1971. so either they were used longer than mentioned everywere, or it has ben swapped at one point in the past. strange enough the one with the vertical lines (the earlier version)is in way better condition with only one small area damaged and the rest still quite solid…